Cronulla’s world tour surfer Connor O’Leary has completed a three-day Surfing Australia Olympic Readiness Camp as the journey towards the Tokyo 2020 games ramped up in northern NSW at the Hurley Surfing Australia High-Performance Centre.

The camp, facilitated by Surfing Australia’s elite program specialist Nam Baldwin, was an important event as it brought together Australia’s top surfing athletes deemed most likely to be in contention for Tokyo 2020 for planning, education, and the establishment of what will be a Team Australia culture as we head to Japan.

Connor O'Leary.Picture John Veage

Three-time world champion Mick Fanning doesn’t mind what his involvement is, he just has to be there when the first heat gets underway at the Tokyo 2020 games.

“I am going to make sure I am there one way or the other, whether it’s in a coaching or mentoring role or just a fan on the beach with pom poms, I will be there. It’s such a huge event for surfing,” he said.

Olympic gold medallists Cathy Freeman and Ken Wallace were two of the inspirational Olympians to address the group of athletes and coaches during the camp.

Surfing Australia has appointed an experienced national selection panel to work with elite program manager Bede Durbidge over the course of the Olympic cycle.

Surfing Australia CEO Andrew Stark said this inaugural Olympic readiness camp was a crucial start to the journey towards Japan.

“Having this extremely talented group of Australian athletes and coaches together for an extended period at the HPC has given Team Australia the perfect platform to build on. This initial camp is just the first of many as we set our sights on success in Tokyo 2020,” he said.

Off the back of this camp, a 2018 national Olympic squad will be announced in early March with O’Leary in the mix to make history as one of Australia’s first Olympic surfers.

If you can pick your time there are waves to be had.Picture John Veage

There has been a few nice waves around our beaches this last week with a mix of 3ft south and east swells helping us out.

Swellnet says the peak of the south swell will be today before it drops off with good winds each morning before deteriorating through the day.

One final pulse of sneaky and inconsistent South/East groundswell is due Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, with a window of favourable winds.

I took todays pics yesterday ,on the only real good rip-bank on the beach,I can't tell you where it is but everyone seemed to know-today the action is more north towards Wanda .

Boomerang Beach will become a showcase for some of the world’s best surfers when the Vissla Great Lakes Pro presented by D’Blanc starts in the idyllic region today.

The elite five-day World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series 1000 rated competition – which will form the third of four QS events on the Vissla NSW Pro Surf Series – will take place from 7 – 11 February.

Content organisers are expecting punchy three-to-four surf over the majority of the event window in what looks to be the third year of great surf in a row for the Vissla Great Lakes Pro.

Shane Campbell,Jared Hickel and Kalani ball are all seeded into the third round so that's a good start after last weeks Mothernest Tweed Coast Pro crowned two worthy champions.

Isabella Nichols and Jackson Baker took top honours in wind affected three-to-four foot surf at Cabarita over a field of Australia’s best surfers, plus a crop of talented internationals.

Next up will be the The Vissla Sydney Surf Pro at Manly (24 February - 4 March) where the opening weekend will feature a WSL Pro Junior division that offers surfers 18-and-Under the chance to compete for a coveted spot at the World Junior Championships. This will be followed by the blue ribbon men’s and women’s WSL QS6,000 divisions featuring 84 of the world’s best female surfers and 144 of the top men.